Catalytic reforming is used in the refining of crude oil to increase the yield of higher octane gasoline which sells at higher prices. In catalytic reforming, the paraffins and naphthenes are passed through the reformer with the goal of minimizing cracking. Instead their structure is rearranged to form higher octane aromatics. Essentially catalytic reforming converts low octane paraffins to naphthenes. Naphthenes are converted to higher octane aromatics. Aromatics are left essentially unchanged.
Refineries generally use a platinum catalyst or platinum alloy supported on a silica or silica-aluminum substrate as the reforming catalyst, although other catalysts, including the oxides of aluminum, chromium, molybdenum, cobalt, and silicon can be used.
In the strong reducing environment and elevated temperatures (500.degree. C. to 600.degree. C.) of the reformer, the catalyst becomes contaminated with metals, such as lead, iron, nickel, vanadium, sulfur compounds, arsenic, and coke. The result is that the catalyst becomes inactive and the efficiency of the reformer decreases. In order to reduce contamination of the reformer catalyst, most reformer catalysts have a guard bed for the catalyst which removes contaminants from the feed stream. Over a period of time, contaminants still break through to the reformer catalyst and reduce catalytic activity.
As the activity of the catalyst decreases, the reaction temperature of the reformer is increased to maintain the desired output. Additionally, organic chloride containing compounds are fed to the reformer to reactivate the catalyst on a periodic basis or continuously at a low dosage. The activity of the reformer catalyst is a function of surface area, pore volume, active platinum and organic chloride content. The efficiency of the reformer is reduced during operation by coke deposition, chloride loss, and contaminants such as sulfur, lead, heavy metals, and oxygen.
When the catalyst becomes depleted, it is necessary to regenerate the catalyst. The activity of the catalyst can be restored by high temperature oxidation of the coke followed by chloriding. This regenerative process allows the reformer to operate for up to a 24 month period between regenerations. Normally the catalyst can be regenerated at least three times before it has to be replaced and returned to the manufacturer for reclamation.